


In Penguin's Shadow: Mockingbird

by MischiefHowl



Category: Gotham (TV), oswald cobblepot - Fandom
Genre: Gen, some torture and minor character death, this is more of a practice/backstory so don't take it to seriously please
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2015-11-25
Updated: 2015-11-25
Packaged: 2018-05-03 07:38:45
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings, Graphic Depictions Of Violence
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,659
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/5282369
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/MischiefHowl/pseuds/MischiefHowl
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Penguin always has a plan. Whenever he must disappear for some reason or another than he always has someone that takes over for him.. someone that knows how to be him. And that is the younger Mockingbird. (May revise/remake later. Contains spoilers up to S02E10)</p>
            </blockquote>





	In Penguin's Shadow: Mockingbird

**Author's Note:**

> Alright this story is not to be taken seriously at all. He is an Original Character I came up with pretty much during S02E07 Mommy's Little Monster with the Penguin Squad as I call them. Making me think of a 'What if Penguin has someone that looks like him and runs things while he's out or, well, hiding out at Ed's house'  
> Its okay to not like it or be mah about it. But hope you enjoy the little read. If anyone wants more I will happily do more

It has been a long ten years since he had first found a job under Penguin, mostly to pay for his apartment as well as fill his stomach.

It was honestly not a bad job, being a mobster, just being careful. And well, not taking a job he involved not killing someone if he could avoid it. He had a moral, even when he shouldn't in Gotham.. mercy. Foolish, he knew all to well.

He was always at the man's table though. Whenever called, he was there. Perhaps the only man that wasn't a drug or arms dealer from the start.

Before, he had to prove himself. And like Penguin, he was clever and had an intellegence he hid behind a mask of naivity, simple minded, boy. The only difference was he refused to be a murderer. It wasn't right.. at the time at least.

He was not of any rich family, nothing, just a common Gothamite that needed work, any work. So when he came to Oswald, he was on his last legs. He was shaking and practically begging for work. He'd take anything as long as there was at least a little money..

Ethan was never one to beg, but empty stomachs and desperation can make you do things you never wished to do. And he knew that what was in store for him was a life of crime, he didn't care, as long as he could avoid taking a life he would accept it.

Oswald had tested him, seeing what his strengths and weaknesses were so as to find him the right place among his organized crime family. He was accepted into the family as someone that would be the ear of the streets. Any whisper was to be reported back. Pick pocketing was welcome as well, it helped him get an extra reward so he could eat in Diners when the streets were quiet for the time being..

One day came though where Oswald came to his apartment, which both lifted his spirits as well as fill with dread. Did he do something wrong? It was perhaps everyone's fear when their Crime Lord of a boss comes to their house and make them feel they won't leave alive.

"M-Mr Penguin- I haven't expected you- i-if I was I would've brewed some tea- sir-"

"Nonsense, I won't be here long. I've come to give you a promotion if you wish of it that is.. And before you say yes. I must say how dangerous it is."

Ethan listened intently, the idea of a promotion meant something good but the way Penguin was already warning him, he had to listen before jumping into a possible pool of sharks so to speak. "Please continue. If it means helping you in any way I can"

"I want you to become my substitute..."

\---

The words hit him as hard as a train would. Substitute. He was to be Oswald's.. "Sir.. it's an honor but I look nothing like you, and I am no where near your-" A hand slamming on the table quickly silenced his humbled excuses.

"Dye your hair black, add some make up, and mess with your nose and you will look enough like me at least in the dark."

"May I ask why so suddenly sir? I would want to know why you would choose me?"

"You are in the right to have concern over the fact. I may be gone for awhile.. what path I lead is full of danger. I offer you my men, my power, money.. and you of all seem the most loyal and truthful to be able to carry it all out without any trouble." Oswald was hiding something, he had been hiding something ever since the talk with Theo Galavan. Butch seemed to know as well, but like always he didn't want to pry.  
"Mr. Penguin. May I think about your offer? It is so much to take in"

"I will give you one week, Ethan. Give me your answer than." And with that Oswald walked out of the small apartment, leaving Ethan with his own thoughts of worry and curiosity. If he said yes he could very well die. If he said no he would feel he was not a great person.

It would be a week before he approached Penguin again. "I will do it."

And training began. It was hard. It wasn't through fists no, it was wit and talk. Ethan's task was to out wit Penguin, the king of manipulation. It was almost impossible, almost. "Find one's weakness and use it to your advantage." He would teach him to say things, do things he never knew he could do.

Finally he did it, he got Penguin outsmarted and he had to grin about it. Oswald had to smile to.. it was a sad smile. All the things he did nowadays seemed sad or stressed. Making Ethan thing the only way he surpassed his wit was because he wasn't in the game. 

His messy dirty blonde hair was blacked by the dye and he was dressed up in suits that he disliked. He witnessed himself disappear in the mirror and instead a stranger stood there. Not Oswald, not his boss.. a copy.. a mockery of him.. "Mockingbird.. I want that to be my name, sir. A bird that mimics others.. it suits me well"

Oswald nods. "It suits you. You will fool everyone. Do not allow this power to consume you.. One final task. You must kill and torture-"

"No. I can't do that! You know how I just can't-"

"You aren't Ethan anymore! You are someone else, Mockingbird. If I want to, I can give the word and Victor will kill you- Easy as pie. I will just have to find another"

It made his heart sink. Was this his plan from the start? He knew he was going to be sick.. but he forced himself into a room with a young man no older than he was- sobbing and muffled pleading from the gag in his mouth. Torture and kill..

He did something that made him no longer a human, that made him ill. He tortured, slicing into skin and muscle, hearing the muffled screams.. he was forced to torture until Zsasz said the merciful word. A word that wouldn't come until Ethan lost his lunch and his moral to not kill. It was a plan to kill that no kill rule he had.. A stupid rule from the start.

"Kill" He barely could hear the word. He just cut and sliced. "Kill!" It rang in and finally Ethan stabbed into the throat and slit it open before he fell onto his knees, breaking down and crying.. He killed someone.. but how he tortured, how he liked it- how he hated himself for liking it..

"Good good, Mockingbird."

\---

When he learned of Oswald being shot and fleeing. Did he know truly why he was to be a substitute. Because Oswald was intending to die if it meant killing the one that had taken and killed his mother.

He was not one of the fake Penguins that stormed the place in an attempt to confuse the GCPD and kill Galavan- no. He was at the Nightclub, tending to it and enjoying the music when a few men came to him with news. Only Gabe, Zsasz, Butch and a few others knew he wasn't Penguin. But they agreed to follow him until his return. "But what if he doesn't come back" Ethan had to ask with some worry. He couldn't be Penguin, he never could. "He will, but for now, boss, you will be Oswald"

Ethan lead best he could. Convincingly he might add. James Gordon knew immediately he wasn't him. "James Gordon"

"Where's Oswald?!"

Ethan shook his head. "You can see much better than some of my men."

"Answer me"

"I do not know, I promise that. He may have left Gotham. I await his return as well. For now, if you wish, ask for my help." Ethan stood up to look at him better. "If anything I do hope you find him of all people. Mr. Cobblepot truly needs a friend now and someone good that can show the way"  
"What if he's-"

"Hah. Penguin? Dead? He wouldn't die, not until he has his revenge. Theo is in Blackgate but that is not enough. He and his sister need to die for this to end. If they live they will return. Keep an eye on them, James."

Ethan looks into James's eyes. Seeing the fire and concern in them. "I will never be Penguin, and I know that. But I owe you for not killing him when you could very well have. I am grateful that you knew."

\---

Mockingbird would continue to be Penguin for as long as it took.. 

After long and worrying days did he hear from Gabe where Oswald was hiding. At a man's home that he considers both odd, friendly, and.. well safe. And finally he was ready to return, having healed up enough to fight after Theo Galavan was released. A real battle has began and Ethan was ready to fight beside his King and friends.

Even as they won with Jim and Harvey, won again with any enemy, over and over. He continued to be Penguin whenever he had. Earning scars from the mission. But never giving in.. Even as age began to get to them he continued on, not being needed as much and choosing to take a wife as well as have children, hiding his criminal job from his children while his wife accepted it but still was worried for him each time he went out.

All understandable. But he would always become Oswald whenever he had to. Batman being the only one to see the difference in the two and got along a tad bit better as well as Mockingbird not getting as beat up as Penguin..


End file.
